Countries should know their endemic malaria to plan the fight well

World Malaria Day: 25 April 2014

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a manual to help countries to assess the technical, operational and financial feasibility of moving towards malaria elimination. WHO’s new guide, "From malaria control to malaria elimination: a manual for elimination scenario planning", will provide these countries with a comprehensive framework to assess different scenarios and timelines for moving towards elimination, depending on programme coverage and funding availability.It is important to know the endemic malaria so that robust programming can help eliminate it within given timelines. This manual will help countries
assess what resources they need to reduce malaria transmission to very
low levels, i.e. the point at which focused elimination programmes can
start in earnest. It will also help them consider appropriate timelines
and provide them with essential knowledge for long-term strategic
planning for malaria programmes.

"This long-term view on malaria
is critical: it is vital to plan for the period after elimination," says
Dr John Reeder, Director of WHO's Global Malaria Programme. "If
interventions are eased or abandoned, malaria transmission can
re-establish relatively quickly in areas that are prone to the disease,
leading to a resurgence in infections and deaths."

Countries nearing elimination

Having
reduced malaria transmission to very low levels and re-oriented their
malaria programme activities, 19 countries are currently classified by
WHO as being in the “pre-elimination or elimination phase”. Seven more
countries have reduced transmission to zero and are in the “prevention
of re-introduction phase”.

In recent years, the WHO
Director-General has certified four countries malaria-free: the United
Arab Emirates (2007), Morocco (2010), Turkmenistan (2010) and Armenia
(2011).

“Increased political commitment and the expansion of global malaria investments have saved some 3.3 million lives since 2000,” says Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General at WHO. ”Countries where malaria remains endemic now want to build on this success.”

Since 2000, there has been a 42% reduction in malaria mortality rates globally, and a 49% decline in the WHO African Region. This progress has led some malaria-endemic countries, even those with historically high burdens of malaria, to start exploring the possibility of elimination.

But although many countries have the political will to commit to elimination, technical, operational and financial obstacles remain, particularly in countries that have a high disease burden.

There were an estimated 207 million cases of malaria in 2012, causing over 600 000 deaths. Malaria transmission occurs in 97 countries and territories around the world, inflicting the heaviest toll on countries of sub-Saharan Africa.